Sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia — Sikhism

What the specification asks for

Paper 1, Section 2, 2.3 (Sikhism). Assessed on AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and AO2 (analysis and evaluation), weighted equally. Incandio is aligned to this specification. It is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's indicative content — the point numbers are given so you can check every unit against your own copy.

1 · Understand it

The Sikh scripture says nothing about abortion and nothing about assisted dying. Sikh positions on both are nonetheless consistent across the community, and working out how that is possible is more interesting than any ruling would have been — and it is what the evaluation marks here are actually for.

What it means

Life is held sacred because the divine light is in every person and because life is a gift held rather than a possession owned. That formulation does most of the work: a gift is not the holder's to dispose of, so the question of ending a life is not settled by the person whose life it is.

The timing of death belongs to God's order, which is the basis of Sikh reservations about euthanasia. Alongside that, relieving suffering is a duty, so the Sikh response is directed towards care rather than towards ending the sufferer's life. Withdrawing treatment that has become futile is widely accepted as compatible with that order, which is a distinction worth having ready.

On abortion, Sikhs genuinely differ in hard cases. Initiated Sikhs are generally opposed, reasoning that it interferes with God's order, while accepting it where the mother's life is at risk. Many other Sikhs treat it as a decision for the woman and her family taken with religious guidance. Presenting one of these as the Sikh position misreports a live disagreement.

One related practice is not disputed at all. Sex-selective abortion has been condemned strongly, and the Akal Takht has issued directions against it — which is best described as a religious authority acting against a cultural practice found in some communities rather than as a position anybody defends religiously.

Why believers hold it

The reasoning is that Sikh teaching supplies principles rather than rules here, and it does so deliberately. Life is God's gift, its timing is God's order, and service is a duty. Those three are enough to generate positions on questions the scripture never anticipated, which is why Sikh guidance is consistent without being uniform.

That method produces a characteristic shape of answer. Because service is a duty, a position that ignored suffering would be inconsistent with the tradition; because life is a gift, a position resting entirely on the patient's own choice would be inconsistent too. What comes out is a strong presumption with recognised exceptions rather than a rule with penalties.

The strongest objection is the autonomy argument: a competent adult governs every other medical decision about their own body, so why not this one. The Sikh reply denies the premise rather than the reasoning — a life is not held to be the person's possession, so autonomy is not the governing consideration. That is a familiar reply and a real one, and an answer that states it as a disagreement about ownership rather than about compassion is doing better work.

A second objection is that a tradition without a ruling gives no guidance when guidance is most needed. The reply is that derivation from principles, together with the code of conduct and the congregation, has in fact produced consistent positions — and comparing this method with a legal tradition that rules case by case makes an unusually strong evaluation paragraph.

Where it comes from

• The Guru Granth Sahib — The Mul Mantar, opening of the Guru Granth Sahib (Japji Sahib) (translated)

  Ik Onkar — There is one God, the eternal truth, the creator, without fear, without hatred.

  The opening statement of Sikh belief: one God, eternal, creator, beyond fear and enmity, self-existent, known by grace.

  What it is doing here: Establishes the God whose gift life is said to be, which is what makes the gift formulation more than a metaphor about generosity.

• Sikh teaching — Hukam, karma and mukti; taught throughout the Guru Granth Sahib (translated)

  Hukam — God's will and order; mukti — liberation through God's grace.

  Everything happens within God's hukam; actions have consequences (karma) and rebirth continues until liberation, which comes by grace and by remembering God.

  What it is doing here: Supplies the order within which the timing of death falls, and is therefore the specific ground of the Sikh reservation about hastening it.

• Sikh teaching — Nam Japna, Kirat Karni, Vand Chhakna — taught by Guru Nanak (translated)

  Remember God, work honestly, share with others.

  The three duties of a Sikh, held together: devotion, honest labour and sharing. Sikhism rejects withdrawal from the world.

  What it is doing here: Requires the response to suffering to be practical, which is why the Sikh answer moves towards care rather than stopping at a prohibition.

Where it bites

It shows in Sikh support for palliative care and hospice work; in widespread Sikh support for organ donation, understood as service; in the Akal Takht's directives against sex-selective abortion; and in the characteristic Sikh response to suffering, which is to feed, house and care rather than to issue advice. Naming one of these is what separates a developed answer from a general claim about the sanctity of life.

It also shapes how a Sikh answer sounds in a hard case. The move is usually not to quote a rule but to ask what care is still available, which follows directly from a tradition that has principles and duties rather than a code of medical law.

What people get wrong

People think: There is a Sikh ruling on abortion and euthanasia that can be quoted.

Actually: The Guru Granth Sahib does not address either, and the code of conduct does not give a detailed ruling. Sikh positions are derived from principles — life as gift, God's order, the duty of service — which is why they are strong tendencies with recognised exceptions rather than laws with penalties.

People think: Contraception and abortion raise the same question.

Actually: Contraception prevents conception; abortion ends a pregnancy that has begun. Traditions treating them alike are the exception rather than the rule, and merging them in an answer means the reasoning about one is being applied to the other without warrant.

People think: Continuing stigma or pressure around these decisions is Sikh teaching.

Actually: Sikh authority has acted against sex-selective abortion directly, which is evidence the tradition will address a cultural practice when it chooses to. Cultural pressure inside some communities and the religious teaching are different things, and reporting them separately is more accurate than merging them.

What the examiner expects you to understand

• Give the divine light as the basis, because it is the Sikh ground for the whole position.
• Say that the scripture does not rule directly, and that positions are derived from principles.
• Report the genuine difference on hard cases rather than presenting one view as the Sikh view.
• Keep contraception and abortion separate; the examiners record the merge.
• Give one concrete practice — hospice support, organ donation — rather than principles alone.

2 · Grade 9 Notes

Core belief / issue

Sikhism holds life sacred because God's light is in every person and life is a gift held rather than owned. The Guru Granth Sahib does not address abortion or euthanasia directly, so Sikh positions are derived rather than quoted — which is why they are stated as strong tendencies with recognised exceptions rather than as rulings.

Key terminology

Incandio's mark schemes credit the religion's own vocabulary; spelling variants are accepted, a vague paraphrase is not.

Sanctity of life

The belief that life is sacred because it is God's gift and God's light is within it.

Jyot (also jot)

The divine light in every person, which is the Sikh basis for the sanctity of life.

Hukam

God's order, which includes the timing of death and is why hastening it is questioned.

Sewa

Service; the Sikh response to suffering is to relieve it rather than to end the sufferer's life.

Rahit Maryada (also Rehat Maryada)

The Sikh code of conduct, which addresses many practices and does not give a detailed ruling on these questions.

What Sikhism teaches

• shared — Life is sacred because God's light is in every person and life is a gift rather than a possession.
• shared — The timing of death belongs to God's hukam, which is the basis of Sikh reservations about euthanasia.
• shared — Relieving suffering is a duty, and Sikh teaching directs the response towards care rather than towards ending a life.
• divided — Sikhs differ on abortion in hard cases, since the scripture does not address it directly and the positions are derived.
  • Initiated (Amritdhari) Sikhs — Generally opposed to abortion as interference with hukam, while accepting it where the mother's life is at risk.
  • Sahajdhari Sikhs — A range of positions in practice, with many Sikhs treating it as a decision for the woman and her family in consultation.

Why it teaches this

The reasoning is that life is God's gift and its timing is God's hukam, so a person deciding when it ends is acting on something not theirs. But Sikhism also makes sewa a duty and holds compassion central, so a position that ignored suffering would be inconsistent. Because the scripture does not rule directly, the tradition produces guidance rather than law — and that is worth saying explicitly.

Sources of authority

• The Guru Granth Sahib — The Mul Mantar, opening of the Guru Granth Sahib (Japji Sahib) (translated)

  Ik Onkar — There is one God, the eternal truth, the creator, without fear, without hatred.

  The opening statement of Sikh belief: one God, eternal, creator, beyond fear and enmity, self-existent, known by grace.

  How to use it: It is the first thing in the scripture and the summary of the whole of it, which is why Sikh answers about God can be grounded in one place.

  What it does not settle: Uncontested among Sikhs, so it distinguishes no group from another.

• Sikh teaching — Hukam, karma and mukti; taught throughout the Guru Granth Sahib (translated)

  Hukam — God's will and order; mukti — liberation through God's grace.

  Everything happens within God's hukam; actions have consequences (karma) and rebirth continues until liberation, which comes by grace and by remembering God.

  How to use it: Holding hukam and human responsibility together is the Sikh answer to determinism, and it is different from both the Christian and the Hindu answer.

  What it does not settle: Mukti is not identical to moksha or nibbana, and treating the three as interchangeable is exactly the kind of confusion the reports penalise.

• Sikh liturgy — The closing words of the Ardas, the Sikh congregational prayer (translated)

  Sarbat da bhala — may all people prosper.

  The Ardas ends by asking good not for Sikhs but for everyone. Universal concern is built into the daily prayer.

  How to use it: A prayer that asks for the welfare of all makes universal concern a habit of worship rather than a policy — which is a strong development on interfaith and human rights.

  What it does not settle: It expresses an attitude rather than settling any particular question.

• Sikh practice — Langar and sewa; instituted by Guru Nanak and developed by Guru Amar Das (translated)

  Langar — the free kitchen where all sit together and eat the same food.

  The free communal meal served in every gurdwara, open to anyone, with everyone seated on the same level.

  How to use it: The equality is enacted rather than stated: sitting on the floor at the same level with a shared meal is an argument against caste made physically.

  What it does not settle: It shows equality practised in the gurdwara; it does not prove Sikh society is free of inequality.

Different interpretations

• Hukam read as forbidding any hastening of death and read as compatible with withdrawing futile treatment; the second is widely accepted among Sikhs.
• The absence of a direct ruling read as leaving the question open and read as requiring derivation from principles; Sikh practice takes the second, which is why positions are consistent without being uniform.
• Sex-selective abortion, which Sikh leaders have condemned strongly, read as a cultural problem within some Punjabi communities rather than a religious position — the Akal Takht has issued directions against it.

Differences within Sikhism

The sanctity of life and the duty to relieve suffering are shared. Positions in hard cases genuinely differ, because Sikh teaching supplies principles rather than rulings here.

• Initiated (Amritdhari) Sikhs — Strong presumption against abortion and euthanasia, with the mother's life recognised as an exception.
• Sahajdhari Sikhs — A wider range of views in practice, generally treating the decision as one for the family with religious guidance.

Application to the issue

It shows in Sikh support for palliative care and hospice work; in Sikh involvement in organ donation, which is widely supported as sewa; in the Akal Takht's directives against sex-selective abortion; and in the practical Sikh response to suffering, which is characteristically to feed, house and care rather than to advise.

Arguments supporting

• Life as a gift rather than a possession is a clear basis for the sanctity principle. — A gift is held rather than owned, so its disposal is not the holder's decision. (sikhism)
  Answered by: It settles the question only for someone who accepts the giver, so it restates rather than argues for anyone else.
• Directing the response towards care rather than towards ending life is practically better. — It puts the effort into relieving the suffering rather than removing the sufferer. (shared)
  Answered by: Some suffering cannot be relieved, and the argument then has nothing left to offer.

Arguments challenging

• A competent adult should decide about their own death. — Autonomy governs every other medical decision. (non-religious)
  Answered by: Sikh teaching denies that a life is the person's possession, so autonomy is not the governing consideration — a familiar reply and a real one.
• A tradition without a ruling gives no guidance when it is needed. — The Guru Granth Sahib does not address these questions. (non-religious)
  Answered by: Sikhs derive from principles and consult the sangat and the Rahit Maryada, which produces consistent guidance without a rule.

Secular / non-religious perspective

Humanists support assisted dying with safeguards and abortion on the woman's decision, reasoning from autonomy and the reduction of suffering. They would note that Sikh practical engagement — organ donation, hospice support, feeding the vulnerable — aligns closely with their own priorities even where the reasoning differs.

Examinable throughout Paper 1. Nothing here earns a mark on Paper 2.

Evaluation

The hinge: Whether a tradition needs a ruling to give guidance. Sikhism has none here and produces consistent positions anyway, which is worth arguing about.

Defensible conclusions

• Life as a gift held rather than owned is the clearest Sikh formulation, and it produces the position on euthanasia directly.
• The absence of a scriptural ruling means Sikh positions are derived, and reporting that honestly is more accurate than presenting a Sikh law that does not exist.
• The Akal Takht's action against sex-selective abortion is the strongest evidence that Sikh authority can address a practice when it chooses to.

Not defensible

• Quoting a Sikh ruling on abortion or euthanasia; the scripture does not give one.
• Merging contraception and abortion, which the examiners name.

Exam use

• Identify · 3 marks — Three Sikh beliefs about the sanctity of life. Short phrases only.
• Outline · 4 marks — Two attitudes developed, each with its reason.
• Explain · 6 marks — Explain Sikh attitudes to euthanasia: life as God's gift, hukam and the timing of death, the duty of sewa, and why positions are derived.
• Evaluate · 12 marks — 'Life is sacred and must always be protected.' The divine light in every person is the strongest Sikh support.

Common mistakes

• Inventing a Sikh scriptural ruling on abortion or euthanasia.
• Merging contraception and abortion.
• Omitting the divine light, which is the Sikh basis for the whole position.

“Contraception and abortion raise the same question for religious believers.” — Contraception prevents conception; abortion ends a pregnancy that has begun. Traditions that treat them alike are the exception, not the rule.

Write instead: Most religious traditions treat them separately. Catholic teaching rejects both, for different reasons. Many Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh positions accept contraception while restricting abortion. Some methods are contested precisely because a tradition disputes whether they prevent or end — and noticing that is a genuinely sophisticated point. (Named in the 2023 examiner report for Paper 1.)

“Sikhism is a mixture of Hinduism and Islam.” — Sikhs hold that the faith is a distinct revelation given to Guru Nanak, not a synthesis. Describing it as a blend denies the tradition its own account of its origin.

Write instead: Sikhism began with Guru Nanak's revelation. It shares vocabulary with the traditions around it — karma, samsara, mukti — while teaching its own doctrine of one God, the ten Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib. The traditional saying 'there is no Hindu, there is no Musalman' is often misread as endorsing a blend; it is better read as declaring that the labels do not decide standing before God.

Grade 9 insight

The Guru Granth Sahib does not address abortion or euthanasia, and Sikh positions on both are nonetheless consistent. A Level 4 answer notices what that demonstrates: a tradition can produce reliable ethical guidance from a small number of principles — life as a gift, hukam, sewa — without a rule for each case. It is the opposite of the Islamic legal method, and comparing the two shows two different answers to the question of how a religion handles a question its scripture never anticipated.

Carry on through Sikhism

• Previous unit: 2.2 · The meaning and purpose of life
• Next unit: 2.4 · Human relationships
• Sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia in the other religions: Buddhism · Christianity · Hinduism · Islam · Judaism
• Side by side: Sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia across the six religions — Is human life sacred, and may it ever be deliberately ended?
• All of Sikhism · Incandio Religious Studies · The 4RS1 specification